Taskforces have been formed within cashew farming communities to compel buyers to pay government-approved prices per kilogramme to the cashew farmers.
Mr. Solomon Owusu, the Jaman North District Chief Executive (DCE) who announced this, said the essence was to ensure unscrupulous buyers would not cheat the farmers by paying below the GHS 8.50p per kilogramme approved by the Ghana Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA).
The composition of the taskforce comprised personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, Information Services Department, Ghana Revenue Authority, and Ghana Police Service.
Mr. Owusu told the Ghana News Agency in an interview about the challenges confronting cashew farmers, particularly in the area at Sampa, the district capital in the Bono Region, said most of the farmers were suffering from non-payment of approved prices because some buyers took advantage of their vulnerabilities.
He explained that some of the farmers in dire need of money to buy insecticides to spray their farms and other important family need accepted prices less than the approved kilogramme prices.
He warned that the law would not spare cheating buyers but would be prosecuted because “it is criminal.”
Mr. Owusu cited that the deplorable roads in the district are also a major challenge and contributing factor affecting the cashew business.
The DCE explained that drivers who were supposed to convey the commodity in their trucks from the farm gates and aggregation points to the depots and buying centres sometimes refused to render such services, particularly in the rainy season.
Mr. Owusu said the District Assembly had therefore started reshaping and rehabilitating some deplorable roads to address the transportation challenge and save farmers from running at a loss.
Source: GNA